The present invention relates generally to absorbent garments. Particularly, the invention relates to adult incontinence garments having additional layers of elastics to provide body shaping, improve comfort and fit, and provide other benefits.
Adult incontinence products generally are pant-like garments that are intended to contain body exudates released by the wearer. A waist portion wraps around a wearer""s torso to hold the garment in place, and a crotch portion of the garment extends from the waist between the wearer""s legs. Such garments are conventionally made with elastics or other fitting devices in the waist portion to fit the garment to the wearer to prevent leakage and to hold the garment onto the wearer. The garment also may have elastics located in the proximity of the leg openings to prevent body exudates from escaping out of the garment around the wearer""s legs.
Adult incontinence products may have a one piece construction, in which case a garment may be manufactured from a single assembly of parts joined to itself to form a garment. Such products also may have multi-piece construction in which the garment is made from several subassemblies that may be joined, for instance, to form a garment having seams at the crotch and sides. These garments are traditionally donned by being pulled up a user""s legs, but they may also be equipped with open seams that are releasably closable to assist with donning the garment.
People often desire to appear slimmer, firmer, or more shapely than they would normally appear. There have been many attempts to provide body-shaping undergarments that provide a person with a more desirable body shape, such a slimmer or more shapely appearance. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,564, issued to Ganz, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and in a manner consistent with the present invention, discloses underwear having elastic buttock supporting panels that provide support to the wearer""s buttocks to provide a slimmer, firmer appearance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,999, issued to Lawson et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, also provides a body-shaping garment in the form of pantyhose.
A fallback of these garments is that they do not provide absorbency features available in an adult incontinence garment. Furthermore, it would be difficult to use an adult incontinence garment in conjunction with a conventional body shaping garment.
Conventional adult incontinence garments do not provide body-shaping benefits. For example, elastics that are placed in the waists of conventional adult incontinence garments often comprise a number of thin elastic bands or strands. These bands are typically adhesively bonded to one or more of the sheets that comprise the garment such that when the elastics contract, the garment is held on the wearer and leakage is inhibited. Such elastics are typically relatively weak so that they can easily stretch to comfortably fit around the wearer""s body. Such elastics may provide little, if any, support and body shaping to the wearer. Other problems also exist.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art by providing an adult incontinence garment (xe2x80x9cgarmentxe2x80x9d) that provides body-shaping features. The features of the invention may be achieved by providing a garment comprising body-shaping elastics. The body-shaping elastics provide elastically stiffer regions of the garment that force the wearer""s body to assume a more desirable shape or appearance and may provide other benefits.
The garment generally comprises a substantially liquid-impervious outer layer attached directly or indirectly to a substantially liquid-pervious inner layer to form a garment having a waist hole and a pair of leg holes. A waist edge defines the outer perimeter of the waist hole, and a waist region proximal to the waist edge encircles a wearer""s waist. A crotch region is located between the leg holes, and extends between the wearer""s legs. An absorbent layer is disposed between the inner and outer layers in at least part of the crotch region and is attached to the garment either directly or indirectly. One or more shaping elastics preferably are operatively associated with at least one of the inner and outer layers of the garment. The shaping elastics cause the body of the wearer to assume a more desirable shape, and may provide other benefits.
In a demonstrative construction of the invention, the shaping elastics are located to support or shape the wearer""s hips. In other demonstrative constructions of the invention, the shaping elastics are located to support or shape the wearer""s back or stomach. In another demonstrative construction, the shaping elastics are located to support at least one of the wearer""s back, hips, and stomach.
In another demonstrative construction, the shaping elastics are located on a skirt-like portion of the garment which may be pulled down around the wearer""s thighs or up around the wearer""s waist.